


Are You Up For This?

by burninglikeabridge



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-14
Updated: 2014-09-14
Packaged: 2018-02-17 09:27:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2304824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/burninglikeabridge/pseuds/burninglikeabridge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I've got a thing for high school AU's in which Steve pines hopelessly over his best friend Bucky Barnes. <br/>Teenage tree climbing antics. <br/>- <br/>"You sure about this, Steve?" His tone is softer, and his eyes meet Steve's, but he's almost hesitant. <br/>Steve notices.<br/>Fuck, Steve notices every random freckle on Bucky's arm, every strand of hair out of place. Steve can't help but notice. He wants to memorize every detail. <br/>"Yeah." Steve answers, and it comes out as a breathy sigh, and Bucky pulls his hand away. Steve feels cold all over, and he looks forward at the rough bark of the tree. <br/>Focus, Rogers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Are You Up For This?

"Are you up for this?"  
"Of course." Steve's hands shake. He shoves them in his pockets.  
He's too proud to admit he's scared.   
Too proud to admit that this was a stupid idea.   
It's way too cold out, the tree is too high, it's dark now, and Steve is sure he can't do it. He is positive he'll have an asthma attack the second he touches the tree.   
Natually, he doesn't admit that to Bucky.  
Bucky would turn around and take them back to his house the second he thought Steve might be hurt.   
It had been Steve's idea to climb the huge thing anyways.   
Bucky thought he was small, weak. He didn't say so; he knew better.   
It's important for Steve to prove him wrong, even if he's right.   
It's important for Steve to prove himself, always.   
"I wouldn't have agreed if I wasn't sure." Steve adds.   
Bucky nods , looking worried for a second. Steve smiles and the worry fades.   
He turns to the tree, and grins.   
"You first, Rogers."   
Steve takes a shaky breath.   
Damn it.   
He told himself he was getting over this stupid little crush.  
Bucky is just his friend.   
If he ever found out, he'd probably disown Steve.   
Plus, being juniors in high school certainly makes the whole bisexual thing a lot more of a slippery slope. Kids are cruel.   
Steve is smart. He keeps all of that to himself. It's not worth the trouble.   
It's easier at times, and this- with Bucky looking way too good, messy hair, cocky smiling, teasing eyes- isn't one of those easy times.   
Steve looks down, stepping up to the tree.   
I'm an idiot, he tells himself over and over.   
He looks at Bucky.  
I'm a huge idiot, he thinks.   
Bucky reaches out, laying his hand over Steve's on the trunk of the tree.   
It's not unusual; they've been friends for years. A casual touch or two isn't rare or out of place. They've always been that kind of friends.   
But the soft lingering of his palm, that's definately new.   
"You sure about this, Steve?" His tone is softer, and his eyes meet Steve's, but he's almost hesitant.   
Steve notices.  
Fuck, Steve notices every random freckle on Bucky's arm, every strand of hair out of place. Steve can't help but notice. He wants to memorize every detail.   
"Yeah." Steve answers, and it comes out as a breathy sigh, and Bucky pulls his hand away. Steve feels cold all over, and he looks forward at the rough bark of the tree.   
Focus, Rogers.   
He hitches one leg up, trying to find a foothold, and almost slips.  
Bucky instantly moves to grab him, one hand gripping his shoulder, the other slipping to his waist.   
Steve wants to pull away, and he wants to lean into the touch, all at once. He wants to scream, because it's everything he wants, and it's everything that scares him.   
As soon as Steve's foot touches the ground, Bucky pulls back, clearing his throat.  
"Sorry, dude, I just-"   
"It's fine. Thanks." Steve speaks too quickly, nervous, cheeks burning and grateful that it's too dark for Bucky to tell.   
Steve tries again, and he's half tempted to fall again on purpose, just to see if Bucky would touch him again.   
He decides, considering his heart's already beating halfway out of his chest, that that's not the best idea,   
He starts to climb, and this time, he doesn't slip.   
He finds a steady place to put his second foot, and then pulls his weight up with his other arm.  
"That's it." Bucky says, and Steve doesn't look at him, because he knows he'll fall, quite literally. The soft encouragement is enough to make his knees weak. He grips the tree tight with both hands to stay steady.   
"Keep going." Bucky adds, and his voice sounds a little strained, the way Steve is certain his would sound if he replied.   
Steve keeps going.  
The ground disappears below him in the dark but he doesn't look down.   
He reaches for branch after branch, tiny ledge after ledge, wedging his sneakers where they fit, digging his fingers into the wood to hold on.   
"How high?" Steve asks aloud.   
"Can you... If you... Pull yourself up there." Comes Bucky's reply, and he's raised his voice a bit, and he sounds a little far away.   
Steve looks down at him, and realizes how high up he is. His head spins.   
He's at least 30 feet up, and Bucky's waving his arms around and laughing.   
"Steve!"   
"Bucky." Steve says back, laughing even though he feels dizzy.   
"Pull yourself up to that branch." Bucky points, and Steve turns, seeing a thick tree branch off to his left. He hoists himself up onto it, holding onto another branch for dear life.   
He's struggling to catch his breath, and his palm is bleeding, but he gives Bucky a thumbs up anyways.   
Bucky scales the tree in about half the time it took Steve, and he looks marvelous doing it.   
Not that Steve notices, or anything.   
"Hey." Bucky says, a little breathy, sitting next to Steve.   
"Hey." Steve chokes, trying not to notice how nice Bucky looks with his hair messed up, and his chest rising and falling with the effort of the climb.   
"This is sweet." Bucky says, turning to look out at the expanse of field in front of them. They're far enough from town that the only light is from the moon, and a far off street lamp.   
"Yeah." Steve replies, sighing, looking at Bucky. "Yeah." Sweet.   
"You okay?"   
Steve nods.   
Bucky falls silent, nodding to himself.   
"Can I say something?" Bucky asks, and he slides closer to Steve, just a half inch, but to Steve it's more.   
"Yeah."   
"You're really... Very..." Bucky shakes his head. "Nah."   
"It's okay. What is it?" Steve feels like he could passout, whether it's the sheer height of the tree or whether it's Bucky, he doesn't know.   
But when Bucky opens his mouth to speak again, Steve is hanging on every word like he's hanging onto the branch.   
"This is lame. I don't know, Steve, I just really fucking like you." Bucky says, and he sounds urgent and desperate all at once, and there's no way Steve misheard that, and he can't breathe.   
There's no way he's misread the tone. He knows what Bucky is saying, and he wants to say something, but his words are tied like knots on his tongue.   
"What-"   
"But I mean, it's whatever. So, whatever, you know?" Bucky blurts out, and he leans forward, his chin on his hand, and looks entirely too sad.   
They're silent, and Steve's never understood what people say when they talk about tension in the air, but he thinks he gets it now.   
"It's not whatever." Steve wants to reach for him, but he's scared to, and he's scared to let go of the tree. He's scared to talk, because he doesn't know what he's going to say.   
"Yeah, it can be. I shouldn't have mentioned it at all." Bucky won't look at him.   
Steve can't move. He can't see straight.   
He wants to say something else.   
He isn't sure he can. Or should.   
He isn't sure what he's doing.   
"It's not whatever." He repeats.   
"Steve, listen-"   
Steve grabs Bucky's face in one hand, turning Bucky towards him. Bucky's hands scramble for a hold on the tree, and one of them finds Steve's shirt instead, and he doesn't let go. Steve's breath hitches, and his grip on the tree tightens.   
"No, you listen." Steve says.   
Bucky shuts his mouth so fast his teeth click together. He's looking everywhere all at once, before finally looking at Steve, and his eyes are wide. His fingers twist in Steve's shirt.   
"I really fucking like you." Steve tells him.   
He's pretty sure he's about to have an asthma attack, but he's choking back gasps, he's staring at Bucky's blue eyes, he's paralyzed. He wouldn't miss this moment for all the air in the world.   
"Shit." Bucky stutters, and his fingers move, in the fabric of the bottom of Steve's shirt again, and Steve takes a sharp breath.   
"Are you going to kiss me?" Steve asks, because he feels more than a little dazed and a whole lot light headed, and he can't imagine anything better.   
"I..." Bucky's eyes go wide, but he doesn't move, as if Steve's question surprised him. "Should I?"   
"I'd like that." Steve replies without thinking.   
Bucky seems flustered, and Steve can't ever recall seeing Bucky flustered. It's endearing, he thinks. To see Bucky nervous.   
"Okay." Bucky says back, slowly, and he stays still for another moment, like he's waiting for Steve to change his mind.   
Bucky leans closer, bringing his hand from Steve's shirt up to his face. His hand is shaky, and every move he makes is hesitant.   
Steve wants to close the gap between them, but instead he takes the time to breathe, and watches Bucky's slow, tentative movements. He waits.   
Bucky smiles, slow and sweet, the kind of smile he saves for only Steve. Steve wants to smile back, but he's terrified because Bucky's so he can almost taste him, and it's something he never thought would be real.   
When Bucky kisses him, it's soft, it's slow, and it's hesitant, everything that Steve expected it to be. But he didn't expect it to happen. He didn't imagine this far. He can feel the slight tremor of Bucky's hand against his cheek, Bucky's other hand coming to rest on his knee.   
He sinks into the feeling, smiling against Bucky's mouth.   
He's kissing his best friend, and nothing has ever felt so sweet, nothing has ever been so right.   
Bucky pulls back, and Steve wants to press forward again, but he waits.   
"I've wanted to do that since the fifth grade." Bucky confesses, biting his lip. He looks mortified at his own confession, as if he hadn't intended to say it.   
Steve clears his throat, hoping Bucky can't tell how bad he's blushing.   
"I've wanted to do it since the fourth grade." Steve says back, grinning.   
Bucky rolls his eyes.   
"Even when I had the bad haircut?" Bucky asks, leaning closer, pressing his forehead to Steve's. Steve lets out a slow breath.   
"Especially then." Steve laughs.   
"You think you're a riot, don't you?"  
"I am." Steve smiles, and he meets Bucky's eyes. He can't believe how easy it is. He can't believe it hasn't been this way all along. He can't believe he never knew.   
"Well, if you... If you don't...." Bucky wants to ask something, but he's shaky and Steve's never seen him so nervous.   
"What?" He asks, hoping it'll give Bucky the push he needs to spit out his question.  
"Can we do that again?"   
"I-" Steve chokes, and he wishes he could keep his cool for more than five seconds.   
Bucky doesn't seem to care.   
"Can I kiss you, Steve Rogers?" A bit of Bucky's usual bravado shows through in the words, and Steve's tongue can't seem to form words but he's never wanted to say yes to anything so badly.   
He snaps his mouth shut and nods, and Bucky wastes no time pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth.   
"Are you up for this?" Bucky asks, mocking his own earlier question.   
Steve groans and grasps the front of Bucky's jacket, kissing him again.   
He thinks he's been too eager for a moment, and he pulls away.   
"Wow." Bucky says, eyes closed, almost wistful.  
"Are you up for this?" Steve challenges, tracing a finger over Bucky's jaw.   
He's never touched anything so perfect, and it takes all his will to keep his hands from shaking.   
Bucky's hand reaches up to grab his wrist, and his eyes burn into Steve's.   
"Quit fucking around, Steve." Bucky tells him, voice rough, but not angry. Something else.   
Steve's breath catches in his throat and suddenly he's desperate, he wants to take Bucky's hand, he wants to kiss him harder. It's something about the way he looks at Steve, the way his breathing has picked up.   
"Holy shit." Steve mumbles, fingers grasping for the hand around his wrist. His other hand fumbles at Bucky's hair.   
The way Bucky responds, constantly leaning against his touch, is perfect. Maybe that's the reason Steve can't sit still, his fingers running down Bucky's back, through his hair, to his face.   
"You're a sap, Rogers." Bucky replies, and Steve digs his fingers into the fabric of Bucky's coat.   
"So what if I am?"   
Bucky responds by pressing a lazy kiss to Steve's jawline, letting go of his wrist, and threading their fingers together instead.   
Steve sighs.   
So does Bucky, but it sounds discontent.   
"Are you sure that...this is... The ideal?" Bucky asks.   
"You mean you?"   
"Yes. I mean me." Bucky's back to his nervous shifting.   
Steve tilts his chin up with his fingers so Bucky can't look anywere else but straight at him.   
"You were, no, you are my ideal." He's proud that his voice and his hands don't shake. He means what he's saying, but he's scared that he could scare Bucky away.   
Bucky kisses him, long and hard, hands racing, pulling, sliding. Steve barely has time to respond before it's over. Bucky pulls back, lays his forehead against Steve's shoulder, leaves both hands on his thigh.   
Bucky doesn't say anything for a long time, but his fingers trace random words and patterns against Steve's leg, and it's reassuring.   
Steve kisses Bucky's head without thinking, throwing an arm over his shoulders. Bucky shifts, and they fall into place, perfectly against one another.   
Bucky makes a soft noise, and for a moment Steve thinks he's fallen asleep.   
Then he speaks, the softest mumble, but it still makes Steve melt.   
"And you are mine."


End file.
